Lyrics

LIVING THE DREAM

A mound of broken stars
A pile of dusty sparks
A stack of glowing coals
A thousand shattered disco balls

The skyline looked like all of those things
We sat by the river as the city sparkled to life,
The cherry bomb sun sank,
we squinted and stared,
And speechlessly spoke

Step up, come down, my friend
How many times we go ‘round again
Step up, come down, my friend
What do you say –
Let’s make this moment stay

We’re living a dream - living the dream,
Living a dream - living the dream

A dried-up river bed
A faded scar
A derailed train
The spine of an old book
My lifeline looked like all of those things

The sun so hot it made us sweat,
The air so cold we could see our breath,
We inhaled pink clouds of the sunset,
As it swallowed us

Step up, come down, my friend
How many times we go ‘round again
Step up, come down, my friend
Come down today
Let’s make this moment stay

We’re living a dream - living the dream,
Living a dream - living the dream

All the dust will return to dust
All the blessed, yes, and all of the cursed
All the meek and the mighty shall fall
So let’s make this day, the brightest of all

A stand of cluttered tombstones
A blurry neon billboard
A sparkling Atlantis
An exquisite, speckled canvas

The future looked like all of those things
A man on the pier pulled a fish out of the black water
He wrapped it in a newspaper and placed it beside me
It was still moving
The headlines on that paper made no sense at all,
And made all the sense in the world

Step up, come down, my friend
How many times we go ‘round again
Step up, come down, my friend
What do you say –
Let’s make this moment stay
We’re living a dream - living the dream,
Living a dream - living the dream

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

ALL WE GOT

The real pride, the big pride,
is having no pride,
So speak your mind, just let it out

Your wheels finally leave the ground
Soaring high over town
Demons take their best shot
To shatter your hopeful thoughts
Atheists in foxholes pray
In love and war it’s all the same
Send a proud soul to their knees Make an atheist believe

Oh, keep your mind from spinning
Oh, you are finally winning
So don’t you stop
Oh, let’s keep this room from spinning
Oh, let’s start at the beginning
and give it all we got
All we got

The real cool, the big cool,
ain’t caring for cool
Forbid the wolves to plague you with doubt

You break and bust and snap the chain
That bound you to your old refrain
A house of cards a house of pain
Burns to the ground but you remain
Remind yourself to breathe deep
There’s one way out and no retreat
Snatch victory from defeat
Join them singing in the streets

Oh, keep your mind from spinning
Oh, you are finally winning
So don’t you stop
Oh, let’s keep this room from spinning
Oh, let’s start at the beginning,
and give it all we got
All we got

The real game, the big game,
is playing no games
So let truth reign, quit messing about

All we got, give it all we got
All we got, give it all we got
All we got, give it all we got
All we got, give it all we got

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

CHASING THE SUN

Everyone’s waiting
For the starting gun
Everyone’s longing
For something or someone
Blind to the present
Lost to the past
Fearing the future
It’s coming down fast

Now your precious moment’s past
Your race is run
Here we come on our mad dash
We’re chasing the sun

Arms are folded
Feet are tapped
Brows are furrowed
Fingers are cracked
You can’t distract us
With your sticks and your guns
You can’t detract us
You’re over, you’re done

Now your precious moment’s past
Your race is run
Here we come on our mad dash
We’re chasing the sun

A parade is a long line
A whistle means it’s quitting time
Your rodeo’s on rewind
Your jukebox spits out dimes
Old man pausing at the top of the stairs
Cowboy rolling smokes outside Times Square
Dead man blind to the mourners’ stares
Lovers lay on the grass without any cares
If I was a brakeman I’d throw the switch
I’d ditch this train over the railroad bridge
Down in the river past Parchman’s Farm
Baptized in the black waters’ arms

Now your precious moment’s past
Your race is run
Here we come on our mad dash
We’re chasing the sun
We’re chasing the sun
We’re chasing the sun

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

GUSH

It always starts this way
a splendid repartee
I’m dazzled by the cunning things you’ve said

You’re clever, sharp, astute
I’m stunned, awestruck and mute
Romantic notions cloud my head

I’m drunk on conversation
My mental machinations
Make it hard to hear

I try to concentrate
But in my altered state
My muddled mind ain’t very clear

It’s not that I’m ignoring you
It’s not that I’ve better things to do
I’m afraid you might think me rude
‘Cause my mind turns to mush
In vain I watch your pretty mouth and I gush

Lulled by your dulcet voice
I haven’t any choice
To a dreamland I am sent
I shake to attention
To figure which direction
The conversation we were having went

But then I get distracted
Your long eyelashes
Like a butterfly
You see me blankly grinning
You lost me at the beginning
To deny that would be a lie

It’s not that I’m ignoring you
It’s not that I’ve better things to do
I’m afraid you might think me rude
‘Cause my mind turns to mush
Girl, you make my foolish heart gush

It’s not that I’m ignoring you
It’s not that I’ve better things to do
I’m afraid you might think me rude
‘Cause my mind turns to mush
In vain I watch your pretty mouth
In vain I watch your pretty mouth
In vain I watch your pretty mouth
and I gush

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

COUNTDOWN TIME

It’s six in the morning and I’ve caught a buzz
Some drink from heartache and some drink because
The pressures of the job got me reaching for a cup
No one can be certain we won’t be breaking up

I’m a man on a mission,
I need steady nerves
I know the earth ain’t flat,
I’ve seen its curves
Give me one for the road,
one more for the climb
I’m a man on a mission, and it’s Countdown Time

I got motion sickness, I could really use a nurse
The cabin spins around me, behind me spins the earth
Kill the rocket boosters, we’re on cruise control
We’ll make a tiki bar out of the console

We all shared a dream, one day we would fly
Raise one small shot for man,
one giant toast to all mankind

Then I see flashing lights, behind me is a cop
He asks if I’ve been drinking,
and why I didn’t stop
He says step out of the car, son,
and show me some ID
But it’s hard to walk a straight line
in zero gravity

(Adam Levy & Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

LONG SHADOW

I went away to get my blood changed
Had my wires a-rearranged
You might think that I’m acting strange
It’s just me acting tough

I fired a shot right through the floor
The circus ran straight for the door
You ask me what I did that for
I guess I had enough

Flying cars and ricochets
Not a soul escapes unscathed
You might think those were the days
They’re best left to the past

Bodyguards in the hall playing chess
How I survived is anyone’s guess
But when you’re a cat with one life left
You learn to move real fast

A long shadow - follows me around
A long shadow - after the sun goes down
What I gotta do to prove to you
If you only knew how I made it through
This long shadow

Blinds are drawn and the deadbolt clicks
Those dirty dogs’ll rip you to bits
All that funky junkie shit
You just ask my mates

I still got my ring and my broken tooth
I can take your piss and spit the truth
The dope and the cops
may have served some use
That’s open to debate

The wind in the trees sounds like a car
The headlight sun ain’t very far
You gonna stay right where you are
Or hitch a ride

A long shadow - follows me around
A long shadow - after the sun goes down
What I gotta do to prove to you
If you only knew how I made it through
This long shadow
long shadow
long shadow
long shadow

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

COME BACK TO ME

I run my fingers through
the knotted grass of Prospect Park
Down the path where we lost
ourselves after dark
I see your silver smile
as morning sparkles through the leaves
With dirt under your fingernails
and grass stains on your knees

Come back to me,
come back to me.

I see your slender fingers
as you twist the pocketknife
The silver dagger dances
in the full moon’s shiny light
You push me against a willow
and you sweetly swear to me
As you reach over my head
and carve our names up in that tree

Come back to me,
come back to me.

No it just don’t feel right - I’d wait all night
I’ve waited all my, waited all my life

The Williamsburgh Bank Tower
off 4th Avenue
You see me climb to the top
and wonder what I’m gonna do
Yeah all your neighbors see me waving
high above your block
As I take out a wrench
and turn the time back on the clock

Come back to me,
come back to me.

As long as our names are carved way up in that tree
You’ll always have a piece of me

Cause it just don’t feel right -
I’d wait all night
I’ve waited all my, waited all…
Come back to me, come back to me,
come back to me, cause I can’t help coming back
to you

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

WORDS ESCAPE ME

I need to see your luring hands
Your wild eyes to understand
I need to see your crude hair curl
Clip the ribbon and it unfurls
I need to see for myself

I need to feel your urgent skin
To fathom the mood you put me in
I need to feel my hand yours in
The fever that lies therein
I need to feel for myself

Words escape me
There’s nothing I can say
Words escape me
They easily slip away

I need to hear your earthy voice
To realize I have no choice
I need to hear your mortal song
To right the night where I went wrong
I need to hear for myself

Words escape me
There’s nothing I can say
Words escape me
They easily slip away

The only words I’ve found
Make these sounds

Words escape me
There’s nothing I can say
Words escape me
They easily slip
They easily slip
They easily slip away
Slip away
Slip away

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

GOING DOWN FIGHTING

I quit my job, and I’m on the lam,
I’m a burning man
On 95 and I’m heading south,
like a punch in the mouth

You were born on a Friday
I was born on a highway
so I know how it feels
To be drifting around
To be more lost then found

I’m going down
I’m going way down,
But I’m going down fighting

I cast my lot when I flunked the test,
ya told me I’m blessed,
and I told you you’d find
A southern belle at the marble bar,
polishing stones with the fire she wore

You were born in a heat wave
I was born in a cold grave
so I know how it feels
To be stuck in the ground,
To be right with the world

I’m going down
I’m going way down,
But I’m going down fighting

You were born on a Monday
I was born on a runway
so I know how it feels
To be right in the way
do you know how it feels?

I’m going down
I’m going way down,
But I’m going down fighting

(Dave Doobinin & Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

CARRIED AWAY

I guess that’s all, I guess that’s it
You set your mark, said I was it
But I won’t sit and be, as you come for me
How good it feels to be on the move
Further and farther away from you
The sun breaks through,
as you see me leave

This train is going, moving fast
My thoughts are flowing, moving past
Moving on at long last
I’m finally carried away
Carried away – and I am gone

A breeze blows through the boxcar door
Saying you won’t worry me no more
I hear your footsteps slowly fade
Oh, to glide, to ride these rails
As your darkness slowly pales
This long veil I have torn away

This train is going, moving fast
My thoughts are flowing, moving past
Moving on at long last
I’m finally carried away
Carried away – and I am gone

I am gone, long gone
To right what you got wrong
I am gone, long gone
Carried away

I feel your breath on my neck
I wake up in a cold, cold sweat
The past is your cruel gift to me

This train is going, moving fast
My thoughts are flowing, moving past
Moving on at long last
I’m finally carried away
Carried away – and I am gone
I am gone
I am gone
I am gone

(Sydney Wayser & Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

PASSING KNOWLEDGE OF THE SEXES

Tell me your vitals and income range
Level of ed., threshold for pain
To separate the whey from the chaff
Please include a photograph

Peruse a profile easily
Take La Belle Dame Sans Merci
A man’s income with a woman’s looks
Do you like the way she cooks the books

Whoever you think you are
I’m sure that you are over-par
The blondes are lying or they’re dying their hair, but my guess is
All you really need is just a passing knowledge of the sexes

Men yearn for a soul mate
Women want the occasional thrill
Swapping truths about our dreams
We’re all playing a slot machine

I been to London and Berlin
You should see the shape I’m in
Who said “seek and ye shall find”
Didn’t know that love was blind

Whoever you think you are
I’m sure that you are over-par
The blondes are lying or they’re dying their hair, but my guess is
All you really need is just a passing knowledge of the sexes

You can share intimate truths
But it will be of little use
Traits that draw a big response
Won’t be a big surprise

I been round the world and back again
I found no love but lots of friends
Maybe I’ve been trying too hard
Now I’m standing in my own backyard

Tonight I’m gonna take my time
Have a drink and write this rhyme
And who knows, maybe someone dear
Will hear my song and draw me near

Whoever you think you are
I’m sure that you are over-par
The blondes are lying or they’re dying their hair, but my guess is
All you really need is just a passing knowledge of the sexes

* * * * *

FANTASY

Oh the glossy pages of magazines
Where life can really be all it seems
Gilded people with silver spoons
Socialites sleep all afternoon

You dream of gala affairs and award nights
Midnight dinner by candlelight
Laughter and joy, meant to be yours
Yet bouncers make you wait at the doors

Your sad heart haunts –
Your stoned soul wants –
Your greedy groin needs –
Your bleak blood bleeds –

Why should this fate befall a soul like thee
When everyone else is a VIP
It’s a mistake or a cruel joke
Are you meant to hang from a velvet rope

Your sad heart haunts –
Your stoned soul wants –
Your greedy groin needs –
Your bleak blood bleeds –

Fantasy, can’t you see it’s
All you need, lord help me,
Fantasy, it’s all you need

You’ve friended the friends of their friends – that’s your trick
All for to find your way into their clique
They’ll wine and dine you in their own homes
The paparazzi won’t leave you alone

Your sad heart haunts –
Your stoned soul wants –
Your greedy groin needs –
Your bleak blood bleeds –
You can’t appease –
Down on your knees –

Fantasy, can’t you see it’s
All you need, lord help me,
Fantasy, it’s all you need

(Andrew Vladeck)

* * * * *

UNPLUG THE STARS

The Big Dipper rots in the cosmic sink
Cassiopeia lies in the drink and
Orion’s in trouble with the law so I think
it’s time, it’s time

Con Ed came in and turned off the juice
I could complain but it ain’t no use
Ma Bell called in to declare a truce
it’s time, it’s time

I’m half-asleep and fully-awake
Genuine and totally fake
In top-form and horrible shape
it’s time

Unplug the stars
Unplug the stars
I need to sleep, I need to rest,
I need the world up off my chest,
it’s time

Well, the moon stares cold like a cataract
Planets lined up for the final act
Achilles heel tears up the track
It’s time, it’s time

The pin-striped deacon stole my wife
The factory foreman fired me twice
The school nurse sure did treat me nice
it’s time, it’s time

I’m haggard and hungry so wrong I’m right
Starving and stuffed so dim I’m bright
I keep confusing morning for night
It’s time

Unplug the stars
Unplug the stars
I need to sleep, I need to rest,
I need the world up off my chest,
It’s time, it’s time

(Andrew Vladeck)